Harry Potter: Reborn as a Prisoner in Azkaban

"Dozens of roosters? Haha..."

In the staff room, the young Alchemy professor listened to William recounting the amusing events of this morning, wearing a mischievous smile This made Adams, who was happily listening, frown.

"Roosters aren't anything unusual."

"Right, whether it's a rooster or a hen, it's just food."

"Exactly, it's just a bunch of roosters, really nothing special." Adams calmly responded, earning serious nods of agreement from both William and Singed. At least, in terms of attitude, both of them wore earnest expressions.

"William!"

"Hmm? What's wrong, Adams? Are you feeling cursed or something?"

William looked serious and then pulled out a large handful of protective charms from his usual desk. These were the same props he had used during class, which had been tossed aside after everyone exchanged jokes.

"Look, these are top-tier protective charms, things that even a pile of Galleons wouldn't be able to buy. In the spirit of our old friendship, pick one." William's words were full of the sentiment of priceless treasures, now lamenting the exchange for coins.

"Give me one, I've been having trouble sleeping lately, headaches, dry nose…" Singed approached seriously, almost like a tourist browsing for souvenirs, carefully selecting among the fake items.

Adams stormed off in a huff.

But the matter didn't end there. Though William had no intention of continuing the joke, Singed seemed to have become hooked on it, and in less than half an hour, he had even come up with several more jokes.

It didn't help that Hagrid had also been quite helpful, just as he had said. The roosters were bought to make up for his previous inadequate hosting.

By noon, Hagrid had sent a student to invite Professor Adams for some chicken, and the joke that had barely paused picked up again with this invitation. After the student left with the message, William and Singed grouped together and laughed.

***

"How was lunch?"

"Not bad. Hagrid's cooking was a little better than I expected—though, just a little."

Adams replied quietly, although it wasn't really appropriate to criticize the host's cooking after being invited to a meal, the Hufflepuff house did have a bookshelf full of cookbooks in their common room.

Though Adams didn't think highly of Hagrid's cooking, it seemed Hagrid also felt that a single chicken wouldn't really make up for his earlier lack of hospitality.

By evening, another student nervously entered the office, informing Professor Adams that Hagrid had prepared a special dinner for him.

"A dinner?"

The three professors exchanged glances, their faces full of curiosity.

Who invites people over for both lunch and dinner? Especially just to eat?

Although Adams was also quite surprised by such an invitation, he still politely told the student to inform Hagrid that he would be there on time.

"Adams, did Hagrid raise some strange magical creature, like one that eats herbs?" William asked curiously, voicing his question.

"Shut up, William. Hogwarts doesn't need such magical creatures. Otherwise, even if it reaches the Headmaster's ears, I won't stop," Adams said seriously, his tone suggesting he would fight anyone who dared to raise such creatures.

His posture made Singed, who was about to tease him, abandon the idea of continuing the mockery.

***

Did I wake up too late? The sun is already high?

On Wednesday morning, as William responded with a polite smile to the students greeting him while floating into the dining hall on autopilot, he suddenly spotted Singed sitting at the table.

This discovery immediately startled William, who had been drowsy after staying up late writing exam papers.

I only closed my eyes for a moment after the alarm went off. It wasn't that long, how is it already this bright out?

Now, he began to regret it. He had the entire day free, with no classes, and it could have been spent either on entertainment or reading, but instead, all that time had been wasted in bed.

Though spending time on things he liked wasn't really a waste, he was still carrying a curse. There wasn't that much time to relax!

Just as William was beating himself up, he suddenly noticed that the other professors at the table were all looking shocked, as though some miracle had just occurred.

After a brief check of the time, William immediately understood what was happening.

Professor Singed had shockingly woken up early and successfully made it to Hogwarts' breakfast.

Clearly, waking up so early had thrown the Alchemy professor off, as within such a short period of time, William saw him yawn three or four times at the table.

What happened? Did Peeves sneak into his office and prank him? Is he sleepwalking? Woken up by a student?

Countless thoughts raced through William's mind. Since the start of the term, this was the first time he had seen Singed at breakfast. This seemed even more unbelievable than the murdered rooster.

"Adams, you've eaten two chickens already." Professor Singed yawned, looking exhausted, and mocked Adams.

"Singed? You didn't get enough rest?"

Adams ignored the mockery, his face full of concern. Not just William, but even Adams, who had been at Hogwarts for years, was seeing Singed at the breakfast table for the first time in nearly five years.

"I'm fine, just haven't slept yet."

Singed wore an expression of 'don't mind the details,' his face showing a mix of excitement and exhaustion.

What great discovery has he made?

The first thought that crossed William's mind was; Alchemy is the most expensive yet lucrative field of study.

Although Singed was among the younger professors and could even joke around with William, the Alchemy professor, in terms of work experience, Singed had far more than William and Adams combined.

Although William's work experience hardly counted for anything, Singed's work experience was solid. While others relied on time, this Alchemy professor had earned his through countless late nights.

Alchemy, in theory, had two main goals; one was the creation of gold, and the other, of course, was burning through money as if gold were the raw material.

What legendary magical equipment has been discovered? Something that could be passed down through the ages?

Found a new alchemical method?

Improved the previous alchemical methods?

Although these achievements sounded outrageous, they didn't seem out of place when it came to Hogwarts professors. Apart from William, who had been thrown into the role, every other professor was a top-tier expert in their field.

William's heart began to race with excitement. Though these achievements had nothing to do with him, he was still genuinely happy for Singed at that moment.

To not sleep the entire night for this—definitely worth it!

William thought, then looked at Singed with a mixture of admiration as the Professor pulled out a piece of paper.

He smiled and handed it to Adams, proudly signaling that Adams could take a look.

William couldn't resist leaning over to get a glance. Although it was somewhat rude, his curiosity got the better of him. What could this great discovery be?

Then, both he and Adams froze.

On the paper were... a dozen jokes.

To be precise, a dozen jokes about Adams.

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